I want to go to the midnight laundrette by Emily J. Helen

I want to go to the midnight laundrette

in the rain, but it’s optional -

when doing laundry isn’t.

I want to hear those agonised stomachs,

spinning and churning

last week’s montage, whilst

the gentlemen’s club plays jazz,

tonight, The Love Theme from Spartacus

rolling over the wind-rushed signs,

who shout in neon

and dance like wildflowers

for attention in stillness,

metal spins and signals flashing

like the glint of strangers’ eyes,

in the essence of light and life,

perched on a wet curb with

the weekend’s drawn-out dirt

spinning behind me,

a simple, warm background noise

to one moment of nothing

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Emily J Helen (@emilyjhelen) is an English Literature student, writer and poet. Appointed as her county's Young Poet Laureate in 2017, she is presently creating and compiling poetry for her first collection.